The Chronicles of Life. (Complete)

Coolerboxing.

The day after Christmas was also a holiday in South Africa. Boxing Day was traditionally known as a day off for servants. It was a day they got relieved of their duties and they got to go home and celebrate Christmas with their families. It was celebrated at a number of countries that had previously formed part of the British Empire.

In South Africa, it was celebrated just like every other holiday, with a lot of alcohol and a lot of partying. The group's plan for the rest of the year was to fly down to Sun City after they'd decided against the 16 hour drive there. They were going to celebrate New Year's at the sunny resort just like they did every year.

Mariska, Siya and Ashley had reunited with the rest of the friends after a whole 24 hours without them. That was the longest they'd spent without the group the whole festive season. Ntombi and her cousins had also joined, as well as Taylor.

Tyrone couldn't join his friends because his family had been struggling financially and even though the group had insisted on covering his costs, he wouldn't allow them.

The boy loved his friends but he always had to remind himself that he wasn't as privileged as they were. He worked as much as he could but the little money he earned could only get him so much. Traveling was completely out of the picture for him. He'd see his friends when they came back.

Ramsey had done a great job distracting himself from his feelings. Even though he was relieved to not have to drag the girl along anymore, he couldn't help but feel a sense of absence and emptiness. He tried his best to always be in the moment with his friends and he succeeded for the most part but sometimes, just like that moment on the plane, his mind took him to a dark place.

Fatima wasn't just his girlfriend, she was his best friend too. They'd shared everything with each other since they were young. Ramsey knew it wasn't going to be easy getting over the girl but he didn't think it was going to be that hard too. It had felt like a knife to the heart when she'd told him she'd cheated. He'd tried really hard to ignore the pain but it was too much. How could she?

"You alright there?", Ramsey's depressing thoughts were disturbed by Anele's question. The girl had been sitting on the row next to him on the plane and she'd been watching him lost in thought. "Here", she said giving him one of her airpods. The boy mumbled a 'thank you' then put the tiny white piece in his ear. The sweet sound of James Blake's retrograde seeped through the speaker making the boy smile in satisfaction. He welcomed the melody as it served a good distraction then drifted off to sleep.

Anele smiled when she saw that. The girl always had a way with people. Not only could she see when someone was going through something, she also always knew how to make them feel better. How to say what needed to be said. It was a blessing just as much as it was a curse.

She was only good when it came to other people though, Anele was bad at relationships. It wasn't that she wasn't trying, she was. She was also very lucky because she always met really incredible guys. Her problem was that she never seemed to feel the same way about them, and if she did she would get over them really fast. She'd been in a few relationships but her longest one had been only two months.

She only hoped that one day she'd find someone and actually last with them. She was in no hurry, everything would happen when it was supposed to.

It had only been two days into their vacation and Mariska couldn't take it anymore. She'd heard enough of Ntombi bragging about Tyrone. Mariska had been disappointed to find out that the boy hadn't mentioned what happened between them to his girlfriend.

A part of her thought he was going to be happy that she was ready to be with him. She'd told him she loved him when they were making love the other day and he hadn't responded. She'd thought maybe he'd been too in the moment to say anything. But what if he didn't feel the way he used to about her anymore?

Only two days later and she couldn't take it anymore. She knew it wasn't her place to say something to the girl but she was drunk and not thinking straight.

Mariska decided to pull Preshani to the side that evening to tell her everything. Preshani had been disappointed but she didn't judge her friend, she knew that was the last thing she needed.

So she'd listened and advised her friend to not say anything to the other girl as that would not only affect Tyrone and Ntombi's relationship, it would also affect her relationship with Tyrone. That had made sense to her.

At least until later on that evening.

Because later on that evening Mariska told Ntombi that she slept with her boyfriend and that they were in love.

That earned her a punch that sent her straight to sleep.